The Federal Minister of Health explains that the lifting of the obligation to isolate on May 1st was a misjudgment on his part.
(Photo: dpa)
The voluntary isolation of corona infected people planned for May 1st should not exist after all. This was announced by Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) late Tuesday evening on the ZDF program “Markus Lanz”.
“This point, that the infected people isolate themselves and are no longer asked by the health department, I will collect again,” said the SPD politician – he wanted to do that officially on Wednesday. A shortened isolation of five days should remain.
Late in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, the Minister of Health became even clearer on his Twitter account and practiced self-criticism. “I made a mistake here” wrote Lauterbach. The end of the order for isolation after corona infection relieves the health authorities, it said. “But the signal is wrong and harmful.”
Corona is not a cold, there must be isolation. The fault lies with him, he repeated, and has nothing to do with the FDP or the recent loosening of the rules.
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Lauterbach previously said on ZDF that it would have made sense to relieve the health authorities. However, the signal that an infected person decides whether to isolate himself is “so negative, so devastating” that there must be a change at this point.
“It stays that way if someone is sick, so if they got infected, the health department will continue to order it. And if someone is just a contact person and it’s quarantine, then you do it yourself.” You don’t need the health authorities for the quarantine.
After consultations with the federal and state health ministers, the minister announced on Monday that from May 1st, people infected with corona and contact persons would usually only have to be in isolation or quarantine voluntarily and for a short period of time. Infected people should therefore only be “strongly recommended” to isolate themselves for five days and avoid contacts – it should apply accordingly to contact persons of infected people. An order from the health department should be omitted.
More: Corona quarantine from May 1st only voluntary – experts are critical.